Last Breath (12 page)

No one argued with her about leaving. They were all tired. It had been a long day, and it hadn’t ended that well.

Besides, Cassidy thought when she returned to the room after kissing Sawyer good night out in the hall, I make them all uncomfortable. They’d never admit that, but it’s true.

Well, that’s okay, she told herself as she crawled into bed, because I make
myself
uncomfortable.

She had been physically ill a lot as a child. And she hadn’t liked it. But that was nothing compared to the sheer terror she felt now, thinking there might be something wrong with her
mind
. Her pills wouldn’t help, and neither would her inhaler.

What would become of her if her mind got sick?

She didn’t get out of bed the next morning. When Ann asked if she was awake and wanted to go to breakfast, Cassidy didn’t answer. And when, as the three were leaving the room, Sophie called out a reminder about the bike ride, Cassidy remained silent, burrowed deep in the blankets, facing the wall.

She stayed in bed all morning, and was still there when her roommates left again, this time for lunch.

“She’s going to be late for the bike ride,” she heard Sophie say as they left. Then the door closed behind them and Cassidy had the room all to herself.

There wasn’t anything she wanted to do with the peace and quiet but sleep. Deep, blissful sleep, that was all she wanted. That wasn’t so much to ask, was it?

Apparently, it was, because a short while later, someone began pounding on the door to her room and shouting her name.

Travis.

He had come to
collect
her? He was crazier than she was.

“You’re not going to sleep your life away!” he called from beyond the door. “Open the door or I’ll break it down.”

Yeah, right. The guy was a runner, not a weight lifter. But he was making so much noise, he’d draw a crowd if she didn’t shut him up.

Throwing aside the covers in disgust, Cassidy padded to the door and yanked it open. “Are you nuts?” she hissed. “Can’t a person sleep around here?”

“Not all day,” he said cheerfully. He was wearing blue bicycle shorts and a blue tank top under a Salem windbreaker. His white plastic helmet was in his hand. “Time to go. Throw some clothes on, and make it quick. We’re already late.”

“
I’m
not late. Because I’m not going. So trot along, Travis, and give the hikers and bikers my regrets.”

He stood firm. “Nope. You committed yourself to this ride, and you’re going. Unless, of course,” raising one eyebrow, “you’d rather they all speculated as to why you didn’t show up. I’m sure the reasons they’d invent would be far more imaginative than the truth, which is that you just chickened out.”

Cassidy hesitated. She knew he was right. She had helped start this group on campus, and she’d talked a whole bunch of people into joining. Everyone was expecting her. If she didn’t show up, rumors would be flying thick and fast across campus tomorrow morning about how she’d hidden in her room all day instead of taking the planned bike trip.

The news about Misstery not playing at the dance was already on tap for tomorrow’s rumor du jour. Wasn’t that enough? Did she really want to provide even more material for the rumor mill?

No. She didn’t.

“I’ll be right there,” she told Travis and slammed the door in his face. She’d go, but she didn’t have to be pleasant about it.

It took her less than ten minutes to don red bike shorts, a matching long-sleeved top, and a white sweater. She was tying the laces on her white sneakers when Travis rapped on the door again. “Get a move on,” he called. “Post time is three minutes from now.”

Making sure she had her inhaler and her key, Cassidy filled her water bottle, grabbed her fanny pack, and left the room.

She refused to speak to Travis. She had the uncomfortable feeling that he’d been ambushed by her roommates. He’d probably had no more interest in collecting her for the bike ride than she had in going, but they’d persuaded him that she needed to get out of the room, then talked him into being the one to “rescue” her.

She just hoped it hadn’t been Ann who had talked him into it. That would be too much.

Before she hopped on her bike, she checked the back tire. It seemed fine. Bless Sophie! She’d taken it to the shop, after all. Sawyer was right. Delegating responsibilities was a good idea. On the off chance that anyone should ever again
give
her any responsibility, which didn’t seem likely now, she’d have to remember that.

The group was just leaving the administration building when Travis and Cassidy arrived. She was grateful that they were bringing up the rear, which eliminated the stares she’d been dreading.

They rode to the park along the river path behind campus, the clear, rushing river on one side, the woods on their right. It was another beautiful day, cool but sunny, with a bright blue, cloudless sky overhead. It took less than a mile of riding for Cassidy to be grateful that Travis had dragged her out of bed. She would have spent the entire day worrying herself sick if it hadn’t been for him.

She glanced across at him, riding beside her on the dirt path. “Travis?”

He turned his head. “What?”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled at her then, and it no longer mattered to Cassidy that he probably had been bullied into dragging her forth into the sunshine. That seemed unimportant, even if it
had
been Ann’s doing.

They were forced to take a detour when a small bridge over a waterfall proved to be unsafe. A large orange sign tacked to the railing made it clear that they would be riding over it at their own risk.

As a result, they arrived at the state park later than anticipated. No one seemed to care. On such a gorgeous day, counting minutes seemed foolish.

But the delay meant that by the time they left the park, the sun was already beginning to sink in the west. They were going back by the main road, and now they would have to ride in traffic after dark.

Cassidy hated to leave. She had forgotten how much fun Travis could be, at least when things were going his way. They had explored the woods, taking a long break to sit by one of the larger waterfalls and talk, and they had even made each other laugh.

If only he wasn’t so demanding.

It did seem pretty ironic, though, that they’d broken up because she was too busy. If things kept going the way they’d been going, before too long, she wouldn’t be busy at all. No one would trust her to be in charge of anything.

She wondered, as they walked back to the clearing where they’d parked their bikes, how Travis would react if she said, “You know, Travis, if you’d just hung around a little while longer, I could have devoted myself totally to you, because there isn’t going to
be
anything else in my life.”

He’d probably say something like, “Yeah, but who wants a basket case for a girlfriend?”

Anyway, he had Ann now.

By the time they were halfway between the park and school, darkness was falling rapidly, swallowing up the woods on either side of the road. Every bike had the required light and reflectors, and there was very little traffic. But Cassidy missed the sunshine and the daylight. Riding wasn’t as much fun at night, and it was getting very cold.

It was Travis who started the argument. They were pedalling up the road in the dark, some distance behind the rest of the group, when he said suddenly, “So, you couldn’t talk Duncan into becoming a pedal-pusher?”

Cassidy frowned. Why was he bringing up Sawyer? She hadn’t asked
him
about Ann. “No. He’s too busy. But
I
don’t mind,” she added pointedly, “because I’m busy, too. That’s the way we like it. We give each other plenty of space. And I don’t see Ann Ataska anywhere around here, either.”

“We’re not joined at the hip,” Travis said sharply.

“Oh? I thought that was what you wanted.” She was angry with him for ruining what had been a really nice time. And even angrier with herself for caring that he had ruined it. “I thought you wanted someone to adore you every second of the day.”

Travis made a sound of disgust low in his throat, stomped down on his pedals, and raced away. He kept pedalling furiously, and the distance between them widened rapidly. Cassidy watched in dismay as the beam from his bike light, shining on the road, grew further and further away.

She was alone in the darkness, with nothing but silent, black woods on either side of her.

The blood in her veins began to race. There was no moon overhead, no streetlights along the road. Only the tiny light on the front of her bike, providing illumination as she pedalled as fast as she could to catch up to the group. They must have gone around a curve just then, because she could no longer see the little pools of reflected light on the road up ahead.

She pedalled faster, although her chest was beginning to ache. How could Travis leave her out here alone like this? Sawyer wouldn’t have. Never.

There
was
a curve. She whizzed around it, and had just emerged on the straightaway when her rear tire began thumping ominously and the bicycle began to drag heavily against her pedalling.

Oh, no. Sophie, Cassidy screamed silently, you promised!

The bikers up ahead disappeared around another curve.

She couldn’t keep riding with a flat tire. As much as she hated the idea of stopping on the pitch-black road, Cassidy knew she had no choice. Travis would notice, eventually, that she wasn’t catching up with them, and he’d come back for her. She had to climb down, before the tire was ruined beyond repair. Maybe it already was.

She slowed, stopped, climbed down, her breath coming in short, rapid gasps. Her parents had been dead set against Cassidy biking, saying it would be too much of a strain. Only when the new medication proved so beneficial had they allowed her to buy the racer.

Now, she thought maybe they’d been right. The ride had been too long and she’d been pedalling too fast in an effort to catch up to the others. Her chest hurt, and she could feel a coughing spasm coming on. Great. That was all she needed now. Just the thing to make her misery complete.

She reached into her fanny pack for her inhaler. As she bent her head, she saw the faint glow of headlights behind her, coming very slowly around the curve she’d just rounded.

Forgetting the inhaler, she straightened up. The car was headed toward campus. She’d hitch a ride. They could put her bike in the trunk, leaving the lid open. Or they could tie it to the roof. Then she could get out of this cold darkness and ride back to campus in safety and comfort. She wouldn’t even wave to Travis when the car passed the bikers. Let him worry about where she was. It would serve him right.

She stepped out into the road and began waving her arms as the car came out of the curve.

At the very last second, as the oncoming headlights blinded her, it occurred to Cassidy that jumping into a car without finding out first who was behind the wheel probably wasn’t such a hot idea. Struck by uncertainty, she darted to the opposite side of the road, in an effort to get a look at the car. Impossible to see it behind those blinding headlights, but she told herself the chances were good that it was someone from school, since it was headed toward campus. They’d take her with them and this dismal bike ride would become just an unpleasant memory.

Wrong.

She saw the dangling hearts first. Then the dark, tinted window glass, and then the black bulk itself registered. The TransAm.

As her breath caught in her chest, the car gunned its engine and, with a squeal of tires, sped up the road and raced straight toward the disabled bicycle.

Cassidy cried out.

The car slammed into the bike with a clash of metal on metal. The racer flew up into the air. The fat, round light on the handlebars was torn free on impact and flung sideways, landing in pieces at Cassidy’s feet. A chunk of glass bounced off the highway and hit her in her shin. She cried out again, this time in pain, but never took her eyes off the bicycle as it sailed up into the dark night like a large red-and-silver kite, somersaulting once before it disappeared into the deep, thick woods and landed, unseen, with a muffled thunking sound.

T
HE REALIZATION THAT ONLY
moments before, she had been sitting
on
the bicycle that had just somersaulted into the air and crashed in the woods took Cassidy’s breath away. If the TransAm had come along before the tire went flat, would it have swept bicycle
and
rider off the road in one blow?

“Thank you, Sophie,” Cassidy whispered gratefully. “If you’d remembered to get the tire fixed, I might be dead now.” That thought was so stunning, her knees gave, and she sank to the asphalt, wincing in pain as the rough surface scraped against her skin. But her eyes, open wide, remained fixed on the car.

It had come to a screeching halt after impact and sat now, directly opposite Cassidy, its engine purring, spitting its cotton-ball puffs of smoke from the exhaust.

“Go away!” Cassidy screamed. “Go
away
!”

The car honked once in reply, then drove away at a leisurely pace, as if it were out for a pleasant Sunday-afternoon drive.

The arrogance of its deliberate crawl infuriated Cassidy. She jumped to her feet, shaking her fists at the car. “Why are you
doing
this?” she screamed. “Why?”

Slowly, smoothly, the TransAm silently disappeared around the second curve.

It was dark on the road again. Empty. Silent.

Cassidy had never felt so alone. She would never forgive Travis for abandoning her. If it hadn’t been for him, she wouldn’t have come on this trip. And then he’d gone off, just because she’d made a nasty comment, and left her all alone on a dark road. Never mind that he couldn’t have known she’d be at the mercy of a hit-and-run driver. He still shouldn’t have left her.

Cassidy glanced around her. She was afraid to move, terrified of walking up the road only to encounter the TransAm again. But she couldn’t stay where she was. It wasn’t safe here, either.

Where
was
it safe?

Nowhere.